2024 Huatulco Area Surf Guides

Apr 30, 2022
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My legs have never been an issue surfing. I ski, mountain bike and hike anytime I'm not surfing and squats + lunges at the gym. For me it's my arms and shoulders that always get toasted... My paddling endurance sucks when I've been out of the water for awhile; swimming doesn't seem to help much with that. An ill timed duck dive or turtle roll on bigger sets can really take a toll.

I live in the interior so I only get 3 surf trips in a year these days :( ..

My surf sessions are usually a brief session in the morning and sunset. I know when I was in the Baja I did need days off to recover from the surf, Cerritos and La Pastora were big-ish and that wrecked me. That's another reason I'd be wary of going with a group of die hard surfers at a camp... I can surf well but unless you're doing it consistently it can get tiring quickly on bigger days or when the current is strong, and when that happens you end up just being a hinderance to other surfers. Costa Rica I was there for two weeks and surfed every day but it was pretty small most days.
 
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Sharkbiscuit

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Aug 6, 2003
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My legs have never been an issue surfing. I ski, mountain bike and hike anytime I'm not surfing and squats + lunges at the gym. For me it's my arms and shoulders that always get toasted... My paddling endurance sucks when I've been out of the water for awhile; swimming doesn't seem to help much with that. An ill timed duck dive or turtle roll on bigger sets can really take a toll.

I live in the interior so I only get 3 surf trips in a year these days :( ..

My surf sessions are usually a brief session in the morning and sunset. I know when I was in the Baja I did need days off to recover from the surf, Cerritos and La Pastora were big-ish and that wrecked me. That's another reason I'd be wary of going with a group of die hard surfers at a camp... I can surf well but unless you're doing it consistently it can get tiring quickly on bigger days or when the current is strong, and when that happens you end up just being a hinderance to other surfers. Costa Rica I was there for two weeks and surfed every day but it was pretty small most days.
I respect skiing, MTB, and hike plus squats and lunges bigtime. I totally believe that your arms and shoulders get toasted like almost everyone else's.

But I'm with gbg on this one. Everyone believes this religiously until they wind up in actually good point surf without too many people.

You say you do squats? Do a set of 6 or 8 or 10 or whatever you do. That's the local. Now do a set of 6-8-10 but right in the most difficult part, hold it for a two count. There's your hauling ass ground-covering pointbreak bottom turn/hauling ass ground-covering carving top turn.
Every third squat, skip the two count and do two reps more quickly and jump up pressing through the balls of your feet to really hit the calves. This is for those "Mother of God" moments you have all that pointbreak speed, time, and space, and it dares to show you a lip to go vertical on.

Superset with some sort of difficult oblique exercise because you didn't do sh!t under torsion but there will be torsion out the ass in the surf.

Also I'm not in very good shape but I surf frequently and live somewhere hot as f--k so Centro, Mexico, etc. ain't no thang. I routinely see people from Southern California lagging in the heat and the sun. You live in BC or something? The sun and heat will take their toll the same way, even when I jogged 3-5 miles with interval sprints and recoveries a few times a week, my desk jockey sea level lungs sucked wind hiking bootpack at 10k feet.
 
Apr 30, 2022
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Can't say I've ever experienced exhausted legs from surfing before. My arms, shoulders and cardio are toasted long before it's ever come to that, even when factoring hiking in and out of breaks. Sounds like a great problem to have! ... I've experienced sore foot archs before but mostly that's from bounding like an ass along sandy beach break when it's shallow. ... My calves got badly sun burned once but I've not made that mistake again.

I do live in BC yes and ski consistently at one of the gnarliest resorts in North America.

In hot destinations I usually shelter out of the mid-day sun. And lots of sun screen and a sun hat... Costa Rica in April I visited, sun n heat weren't too big of a deal for me. it's the hot, muggy nights that were killer... Anytime I had to stay somewhere without AC the nights were awful trying to sleep. Mexico the nights seem to cool off a bit more than further south though I've only been to Baja Sur and Nayarit. Looks like the Oaxaca can be a few degrees warmer though? ...
 

Sharkbiscuit

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Can't say I've ever experienced exhausted legs from surfing before. My arms, shoulders and cardio are toasted long before it's ever come to that, even when factoring hiking in and out of breaks. Sounds like a great problem to have! ... I've experienced sore foot archs before but mostly that's from bounding like an ass along sandy beach break when it's shallow. ... My calves got badly sun burned once but I've not made that mistake again.

I do live in BC yes and ski consistently at one of the gnarliest resorts in North America.

In hot destinations I usually shelter out of the mid-day sun. And lots of sun screen and a sun hat... Costa Rica in April I visited, sun n heat weren't too big of a deal for me. it's the hot, muggy nights that were killer... Anytime I had to stay somewhere without AC the nights were awful trying to sleep. Mexico the nights seem to cool off a bit more than further south though I've only been to Baja Sur and Nayarit. Looks like the Oaxaca can be a few degrees warmer though? ...
It's the best problem to have! Well, good point surf with enough waves to go around to get there is good. Actually cramping in good surf and clutching a hammy or a calf while a set unloads on you suxballz.

I've never been to Oaxaca. I've heard that part can be more semi-arid. Gap winds I guess are bad for points and better for sleeping if it's not noisy.

IMHO places closer to mountains especially ones with rain in them cool off sooner. I've been at the foot of a coastal range in El Salvador and that feels much cooler most nights than an alluvial flood plain in Mexico.
 

gbg

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Jan 22, 2006
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The heat in oaxaca is brutal unless you go in March or early April or late October and beyond. If you go May thru Sept, not only will it be hot as balls but it will be more crowded.
 
Apr 30, 2022
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My window of hot climate surf travel is usually November, or March-April. Or potentially mid winter if the ski season sucks then Jan-Feb be a good time to go somewhere... but that kinda limits my S swell window.
 

Bob Dobbalina

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Feb 23, 2016
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If you cant surf perfect peeling waves on your backhand, just quit and go rollerblading.

I see LOTS of footage of regular foots in the region. Seems idyllic.
I see much less footage of goofies.

Just curious.
 

MathDebater

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Apr 13, 2016
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If you cant surf perfect peeling waves on your backhand, just quit and go rollerblading.
I started surfing because someone on a rollerblade forum told me if I couldn't shred, to quit and go surf.

How fast they peel makes a bigger difference on my backhand. Backside I can't get as big of a first pump on the drop if it's steep.
 

mundus

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Feb 26, 2018
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I started surfing because someone on a rollerblade forum told me if I couldn't shred, to quit and go surf.

How fast they peel makes a bigger difference on my backhand. Backside I can't get as big of a first pump on the drop if it's steep.
Far from a world beater but had zero problems with right hand points in the area.
 

Sharkbiscuit

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One of those spots was in an Innersection or some Kai Neville video with I think Shaun Cansdell and maybe it was just low tide ,good swell and one of the most primo spots but it looked pretty difficult backhand. Backwash, crazy thick sections with what I would assume was mental draw up the face.....looked like if your backhand dredger program is grab rail and bog ass you'd get sucked up and pile driven and turned into a potato.
 
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Apr 30, 2022
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Almost happened this year, but I don't think I'll be able to pull it off due to finances; the trip will end up costing me more than I had planned due to surf camp and guide fees, but it's now on my radar now within the next year or two. Perhaps next March-April but I am going to be either going to Michoacan or Nicaragua in November.

I guess it's best to avoid the week before and after Easter?
 
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